Hebrews 11 - Sarah
Readings for this week September 25 - 30
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Day 1 – Sarah
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Hebrews 11:11-12
When you read the entire biblical account of Sarah’s story, the thing that stands out is her barrenness, her inability to have children. And this infertility wasn’t something only restricted to her advanced age, to that time in her life when both she and Abraham were “as good as dead” (what a charming description!). The first mention of Sarah, right after introducing her as Abraham’s wife, mentions that she “was barren; she had no child.” While for many women today, being unable to conceive can be a devastating discovery, there was also great stigma attached to such a condition in ancient (and not so ancient) times. In a pre-scientific age the inability to produce a son (especially) to continue the family line was often seen as a judgement from God. It was seen as a reproach, a disgrace.
So this is Sarah. This is her plight. This is the woman to whom the promise of a child is given. It took a long time for this promise to be realised, and yes, there were some unfortunate human missteps along the way. But as Hebrews says, she had a child in her advanced age because she ultimately considered the one who had made the promise – God – faithful. The birth of Isaac was a miracle – a God-promised, God-given miracle, proof of both the goodness of God and the amazing power he has at his command. It is also a testament to the faith of Sarah and her trust that God was who he said he was and would do what he said he would do no matter the circumstances or how long it would take.
Question to Consider
What do you think Sarah’s thoughts were as the decades passed? What promise of God’s have you waited a long time to see come to pass?
Prayer
Lord God, give me faithful patience when faced with the intricacies of your timing. Help me be disciplined and remain steadfast and loyal to you when I am tempted to turn away in frustration. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 2 – Taking Control
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Genesis 16:1-5
Sometimes our problem with God’s promises is that they don’t come with all details explained or an explicit (or even implicit) timeline attached. A child? Yes, absolutely. And born of whom exactly? Well, Abraham obviously. But which woman? No comment. Ok, when? Well, we’ll see about that too. Sarah’s confusion and frustration is understandable. It has been ten years since God promised a child and both Abraham and Sarah are getting older, greyer, moving ever further beyond whatever reasonable child bearing time frame might be left to them. And so Sarah takes matters into her own hands, handing Abrahan over to her maidservant Hagar so that the child might come through her. Abraham sleeps with Hagar and a son, Ishmael is born. And so is dissension, disharmony and antagonism.
Ishmael is the result of Sarah trying to fulfil what God had said he would do on her own, in her own way. She took matters into her own hands and while a precious child was born, so too was heartache and jealousy. Into the informational gaps in God’s promise, Sarah tried to insert her own timetable and plan. Unfortunately, her plan to ‘help’ God didn’t involve God! Now, waiting doesn’t mean doing nothing. When God issues a promise, that doesn’t mean everything stops – or should stop – until such time as the promise comes to pass. While we cannot force the promise into being, as Sarah tried to do, whatever we do, whether acting or waiting, needs to be done in faith. Yes, we can push on with the work, but on God’s terms, for his glory, in his way and in his timing. He is in charge.
Question to Consider
Have you ever tried to speed up God’s plan? What happened?
Prayer
Heavenly Father, grow greater trust in me. Help me learn greater patience, to turn to you first rather than to my own resources and designs so that I don’t ruin the good things you have planned. Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 3 – Laughter
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Genesis 18:1-15 and 21:1-7
Laughter plays a recurring role in this story, and not all of it is funny or joyful. When God promised Sarah that she would have a child, she laughed in a way that caught God’s attention. God even asked Abraham why his wife laughed (and it’s not because God didn’t know why). We don’t get Abraham’s answer, but we do get Sarah’s untruthful denial of having laughed. Obviously her laughter in this instance was not of a humorous nature, and was not something she thought God would approve of, but it was more an expression of her doubt and scepticism. At the beginning of the promise, she didn’t believe it possible that someone of her advanced age would ever have a baby.
But this was not the end of her laughter. Later, when God delivered on his promise and she had given birth to a son and named him Isaac (which means “he will laugh”), Sarah laughed again and even celebrated her laughter. With gentleness and love, God made Sarah face her doubt and scepticism, but also made good on his promise to her and blessed her with the child he had promised. Sarah had some work to do, some issues she needed to put right in her view of God and what he could – and would – do. She needed to learn to trust him more. God helped her do so, helping her move from doubt to faith, from a laughter borne of cynicism to one prompted by joy and belief. God did not leave her where she was but gave her the opportunity to grow – and she took it.
Question to Consider
When you are sceptical of God, how does it show in your life? How has God worked in you to turn such scepticism to faith and thankfulness?
Prayer
Gracious God, thank you for not giving up on me but always moving me closer to you, turning my faith into belief. Thank you for your faithfulness that does not grow weary and does not forsake me. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 4 – The Broken Heart
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Matthew 5:4
There will be many for whom the story of Sarah will be bittersweet, perhaps even a story that raises issues of deep sadness and frustrated anger and dismay, a story that speaks to a long-held yearning that has not – and perhaps cannot – come to its hoped for conclusion; or one that was once full of hope and joy but has come to a tragic and premature end. Sarah’s story had a happy ending. Many others do not. Through a miracle of God she gave birth to a son as was promised. For so many others the longed-for miracle of children has passed them by or been suddenly snatched from them; the cradle remains empty, the only cries riding the air are their own cries of anguish and sadness. Some hopes and dreams remain only hopes and dreams; the only thing that grows is disappointment with God.
Whether or not such pain stems from a promise that has not come to fruition or a hope that has been taken away, there are many people who live with such pain and who seek the ongoing comfort of God in their distress. And sometimes this seeking is all we have. We can come to God with our hurts and sorrows. We can bring him our disappointments, knowing that even if the immediate pain may not be taken away, we will find compassion and love in his arms, as well as a further promise that there will come a time one day when all sorrow will be answered, all hurts mended, all tears wiped away.
Question to Consider
What is your deep unfulfilled sorrow? How has God met you in your pain?
Prayer
Loving Lord, you are the great comforter, the one who is closer to us than we are to ourselves, the one who promises to always be beside us. Comfort me in my affliction. Cover me with your presence that I may know your goodness and your love. In Jesus’ name, Amen
Conclude with Silence (2 minutes)
Day 5 – The Old in Tandem with the New
Silence, Stillness and Centering before God (2 minutes)
Scripture Reading – Romans 4:18-22
If you were to write a brief capsule summary of your life, what events would you choose to highlight? And why? And, having decided, how would you choose to frame the events and people and places of your life? What angle would you take on any given event? What would you choose to emphasise? What would you gloss over? Would you include any changes in perspective that the passage of time may have wrought in you? When we read Paul’s take on the story of Abraham and Sarah, it seems like we’re getting the censored version, the positive spin, the good bits, with the bad bits – their mistakes, their familial struggles, their disagreements – left out. In the New Testament, the focus is on the glorious end result – embodied in Jesus and his work on the cross – the outworking of God’s purposes through the faithfulness of his servants. And it is good stuff.
But that isn’t to ignore the struggles on the way or downplay the pain that people experienced. That is one of the reasons why the Hebrew bible and the New Testament go so well together. For the stories of these heroes and heroines of the faith are still there for us to read and be inspired by, to laugh over, cry with, and see the good and the bad, even if the full scope of their lives isn’t the focus of the New Testament’s recollection. We see the gold, after it has been extracted, sifted, purified and washed. Yet the full story is still there, freely available to us. These very human stories remind us of the shared humanity common to all and the goodness that God can bring out of even the darkest nights we encounter.
Question to Consider
Who are the people who inspire you? What stories move and grow you?
Prayer
Heavenly Lord, thank you for your word, and for the lives of all those faithful people who have come before us that we can learn from and be inspired by. May my life in you be inspiration to others too. Amen.